The European Union has unveiled a list of seven nations it now considers “safe,” aiming to accelerate migrant returns by making it more difficult for citizens from these countries to qualify for asylum within the bloc, reports RTE.
According to the European Commission, it is proposing to classify Kosovo, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Morocco, and Tunisia as “safe countries of origin.”
This designation would allow EU states to fast-track asylum claims from individuals from those countries, under the assumption that such applications are unlikely to be valid, reports RTE.
“Many member states are facing a significant backlog of asylum applications, so anything we can do now to support faster asylum decisions is essential,” said EU migration commissioner Magnus Brunner.
The commission added that candidate countries for EU membership would also generally qualify as safe, except in cases where they are affected by conflict.
A similar list was previously suggested in 2015 but was dropped amid intense disagreements—particularly over whether to include Turkey, reports RTE.
The EU has been under mounting pressure to curb irregular migration and boost deportations, with public sentiment shifting and hard-right parties gaining ground across various member states.
In October, EU leaders called for urgent legislative action to speed up returns and encouraged the commission to explore “innovative” strategies to tackle irregular migration, reports RTE.
As part of its response, the commission last month proposed reforms to the bloc’s return procedures, including allowing member states to set up migrant return centres outside EU borders.
Current EU figures show that fewer than one in five people ordered to leave the bloc are actually returned to their home countries, reports RTE.
Italy’s interior minister welcomed the proposal, saying it validates the Italian government’s longstanding push for tougher migration rules.
Matteo Piantedosi said Italy had “always worked both at a bilateral and multilateral level to obtain the revision of the regulation,” and hailed the country additions as “a success for the Italian government,” reports RTE.
Italy’s hard-right administration, led by Giorgia Meloni, has pledged to reduce irregular migration, though its flagship initiative to establish migrant centres in Albania has encountered legal hurdles and delays.
Italian courts have blocked efforts to detain migrants in Albania after they were intercepted at sea, instead requiring their transfer back to Italy, reports RTE.
Italy had hoped to use the Albanian centres for migrants from safe countries before repatriation, but legal uncertainty over which countries met the “safe” criteria had delayed the plan.
Mr Piantedosi said the EU’s new proposal enables swift border procedures, “such as those provided in Albania,” for asylum seekers from nations with a recognition rate below 20%, reports RTE.
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